Track supported mounting device



3mm 1.5, 1965 a J. BLJRNs ETAL TRACK SUPPORTED MOUNTING DEVICE 2Sheets-Sheet 1 iled Nov. 1.2, 19525 INVENTOR drP/-/NJ 50mm, BY @68621.5. flan 44,

June 15, 1965 s. .1. BURNS ETAL TRACK SUPPORTED MOUNTING DEVICE 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 12, 1963 JTEPHEN J [Bu/2M5,

RUSSELL 5. /7bW/ L,

INVEN TOR.

United States Patent 3,189,313 TRACK SUPPORTED MOUNTING DEVICE StephenJ. Burns, Hollywood, and Russell B. Howell, Burbank, Califi, assignorsto Burns Aero Seat Company, Inc, Burbank, Califi, a corporation ofCalifornia Filed Nov. 12, 1963, Ser. No. 322,739 3 Claims. (Q1. 248-429)This invention relates to a track supported mounting device and moreparticularly to a mounting device which can be easily and quicklyassembled on a track and positioned at any selected location along thetrack.

At present, spaced tracks extend along the fuselage floor of an aircraftto provide a mounting for individual seats. The track comprises a Cshaped extrusion with the open slot facing upward and the edges of theslot overlapping the channel in the track. Thus, the edges of the slotmust be cut away at spaced locations to permit tie down fitting of themounting device to be assembled in the channel for sliding movement inthe channel and along the track. Also, drilled holes or notches must beprovided at spaced intervals in the tracks in order to lock the tie downfitting to the track by pins after the fitting is placed in the locationfor mounting a seat. Since these holes have a sloppy fit with the pins,a slight amount of movement of the seat can take place even after thefittings are lacked in position.

The present invention provides a mounting device having a tie downfitting which can be assembled in the standard track without modifyingthe track to receive the fitting. The mounting device includes anelongated support memher having a split tracking shoe or fitttingattached at each end to support the member above and along the track.Each complete shoe has an inverted T-shaped cross section and is dividedthrough the vertical plane into two parts, each having a side projectingfoot which fits below one edge adjacent the slot in the track. In orderto assemble a complete shoe in the track, the parts are staggered alongthe track and separately inserted so that the side projecting foot ofone part can be located under one slot edge and the side projecting footof the other part can be located under the other slot edge. Thereafter,the parts are moved opposite one another and secured together in orderto secure the shoe in the track for sliding movement along the track.

The elongated member supported by the shoes is locked in position by apair of spaced cams carried by the member and spring biased intoengagement with the bottom surface of the channel in the track. Bymoving the cams away from the track, the elongated member can be movedto any desired position along the track and reengagement of the camswith the track will firmly lock the mounting device in position. Theends of each shoe have a lower edge adjacent the bottom channel surfacewhich cleans the cam engaging surface upon movement of the shoes alongthe track. Also, the space between the shoes is substantially fullycovered by the elongated member so that the cam engaging surface betweenthe shoes will not become contaminated after the elongated member islocated in the desired position.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a tracksupported mounting device having tie down fittings in the form of splitshoes which can be assembled in the track without modification of thetrack.

Another object of the invention is to provide a track supported mountingdevice having an elongated member slidably mounted on the track by a tiedown fitting at each end and having a locking cam means engaging thetrack between the tie down fittings.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tie down fitting for atrack supported mounting device, which fitting 3,189,313 Patented June15, 1965 can be slidably mounted on the track at any location along thetrack.

A further object of the invention is to provide a track supportedmounting device having opposed cams engaging the track for locking thedevice against movement in opposite directions.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tie down fitting for atrack supported mounting device which cleans the bottom surface of thetrack channel as the fitting moves along the track,

These and other objects of the invention not specifically set forthabove will become readily apparent from the accompanying description anddrawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the track supported mountingdevice of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged top plan view along line 22 of FIGURE 1 showingthe split shoes at the ends of the elongated support member.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged vertical section partly in elevation, along line33 of FIGURE 2, illustratingthe locking cams.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged transverse vertical section along line 4-4 ofFIGURE 3 showing one of the split shoes.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged transverse vertical section along line 55 ofFIGURE 3 showing one of the locking cams.

FIGURE 6 is a transverse vertical section of the mounting track and onepart of a mounting shoe and showing the positioning of the part in thetrack.

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of the two parts of a shoe located in thetrack for movement together to form a complete locked shoe.

FIGURE 8 is a vertical section of a modified mounting device in whichthe locking cams are reduced in size to be substantially fully containedwithin the elongated member.

The embodiment of the invention chosen for illustration comprises atrack supported mounting device 9 having an elongated supporting member10 extending along the track. The member 10 has sides 11 and 12connected with top panel 13 which has side flanges 14 and 15. The member1! is slidably secured to the track by tie down fittings 16 and 17 whichextend between sides 11 and 12 and are secured to the opposite ends ofmember '10 by locking pins 18 and 19, respectively, extending throughthe fittings and the sides. Fitting 16 comprises a shoe of invertedT-shaped cross section which is separated along vertical plane 20 intotwo shoe parts 21 and 22, each of which is a half of the shoe. In asimilar manner, fitting 17 comprises a shoe of inverted T-shaped crosssection which is separated along vertical plane 23 into two shoe parts24 and 25, each of which is a half of the shoe. The shoe parts 21 and 22have projecting feet 26 and 27 while shoe parts 24 and have similarprojecting feet 28 and 29.

Track 30 has an upper section 31 containing a channel 32 of rectangularshape defined by a bottom panel 33, side panels 34 and 35, and topflanges 36 and 37- which a-re spaced apart to form slot 38 (see FIGURES4 and 6). The projecting feet 26 and 27 of shoe 16 are located inchannel 32 below flanges 36 and 37, respectively, and the projectingfeet 28 and 29 of shoe 17 are located in the same manner in channel 32.The thickness of each shoe 16 and 17 is sufficient to fill the slot 38when the shoe halves are located opposite one another and secured tomember 10 by self locking pins 18 and 19 of well known construction.Thus, each shoe is slidably supported on surface 40 of bottom trackpanel 33 for movement with member 10 along the track to any selectedposition. A lower track section 42 is identical in construction to uppertrack section 31 but is inverted so that panel 43 is opposite bottompanel 33 of upper section 31. The track sections are secured together bya plurality of bolts 44 passing through panels 33 and 43 and havingrecessed heads in panel 33 so as not to interfere with the slidingsurface 40. The lower section 43 has a channel for receiving a standardsupport fitting carried by the fioor to which the track is to beattached.

FIGURES 6 and 7 illustrate the manner in which the shoes 16 and 17 areassembled at any point in the upper section of the track withoutslotting or othenwise modifying the track at such point. Referring toFIGURE 6, the left shoe half 21 of shoe 16 in full line position isready for insertion into Channel 32 and it is apparent that footprojection 26 can pass through slot 38 into the dotted line position ofhalf 21 in which the foot is overlapped by flange 36. In a similarmanner, the foot projection 27 of shoe half 22 can be passed throughslot 38 and positioned so that flange 37 overlaps foot 27. Asillustrated in FIGURE 7, the assembly of the two halves is initiallydone at spaced points along the track and thereafter the halves aremoved opposite one another, as shown by the dashed line position of half22, in order to form the completed shoe 16. In the assembled condition,the shoe 16 fills the channel 32 and slot 38 so that the shoe cannot bebodily removed from the track although it can slide along the track. Ina similar manner, the halves 24 and 25 of shoe 17 can be assembled inthe track at a location spaced from shoe 16. Thereafter, each end ofmember 10 is placed over one of the shoes so that pin 18 can be insertedthrough openings in the parts of shoe 16 and pin 19 can be insertedthrough openings 51 in the parts of shoe 17. The elongated member lltiis then supported by the shoes for sliding movement along track section31 into an infinite number of mounting positions.

A pair of opposed cam members 55 and 56 are pivotally supported by bolts57 and 53, respectively, which extend between the sides of member 1! andare secured by nuts 54. The surface 59 of cam member 55, increase inradius from shaft 57 in a counterclockwise direction so that point 60 onthe radius will engage bottom surface 49 of channel 32 uponcounterclockwise rotation. The surface 62 of cam member 56 increases inradius from shaft 58 in a clockwise direction so that point 63; willengage bottom channel surface 4t? upon clockwise rotation. A tensionspring 65 connects between projections 66 and 67 of cam member 55 and56, respectively. The projections are located below the cam shafts 57and 58 so that the spring continually urges the cam surfaces 59 and 62into locking engagement with surface 44? by urging cam 55 in acounterclockwise direction and cam member 56 in a clockwise direction.Thus, any force on member 1t) to the left in FIGURE 3 will be firmlyresisted since the force is in a direction to cause furthercounterclockwise rotation of cam member 55 which results in surface 59more firmly gripping surface 44). Any force to the right on member 10will be in a direction to cause further clockwise rotation of cam member55 which results in surface 62 more firmly gripping surface 40. It istherefore apparent that when the cam memhere are solely under theinfluence of spring 65, the elongated member 10 is locked in position onthe track section 31 by the engagement of cam surfaces 59 and 62 withbottom surface 49 and the locking action increases as the force on themember 10 increases.

Lever arms '71) and 71 are integral with cam members 55 and 56,respectively, and extend through openings 72 in top panel 13 so thatthey can be moved together against the force of spring 65 to release thecam surfaces 59 and 62 from locking engagement with bottom channelsurface 40. With the cam surface released, the member 10 can be movedalong track 30 on shoes 16 and 17 until it is located in the desiredmounting position. The levers and 71 can then be released to again lockthe member 1% in position. A guard plate 73 has a side 74 secured toflange 14 of member 16 and has an upright side 75 located oppositelevers 7i and 71 to prevent accidental movement of the levers to unlockthe cam surfaces. A modification of the locking cam members isillustrated in FIGURE 8 wherein the members 55 and 56 and the levers 7dand 71' are smaller so that the levers do not project substantiallyabove the top panel 13 of elongated member 151. The opening 72 is largeenough to receive two fingers which engage and move the levers to unlockthe cam surfaces 59' and 62'. In this modification, the levers 7i) and'71 are not subject to accidental movement since they are substantiallycontained within the supporting member 1t) and therefore, no guard plateis required for protection of the levers.

When it is desired to support an aircraft seat 80, a track 311 islocated at each side of the seat so that each side of the seat so thateach side can be supported by an elongated member 107 For this purpose,the flanges 14 and 15 are cut off at the ends of member 1% so that aU-shaped mounting bracket 31 can be attached at each end of the member113. Each bracket 81 is secured by a bolt 82 which passes through sides83 and 8d of the bracket, through sides 11 and 12 of member 15), andthrough openings 85 in the shoes. A nut 86 serves to secure each bolt 32and the bolts assist in attaching the member 10 to the shoes 16 and 17.A mounting flange 87 is secured to the brackets 81 and extends above andalong flanges 14 in order to support a mounting portion 88 of seat 80.It is understood that any suitable mounting structure or fitting can beattached to one or more members 10 to support a variety of objects alongone or more tracks 30.

In order to maintain a firm grip between the surfaces of cam members 55and 56 and the bottom channel surface 40, the surface 40 is cleaned bythe lower outside corners 90 and 91 of shoes 16 and 17, respectively, asthe member 10 is moved along the track. Because of the slanting ends ofthe shoes, the corners 95D and 91 provide a wedge action to remove anycontamination on surface 4-6 and to move such contamination along thetrack ahead of either shoe. Also, the weight carried by member 10 forcesthe bottom of the shoes against surface 40 to insure good cleaningaction by corners 90 and 91. Therefore, regardless of the direction ofmovement of member 10, the track between the shoes at the location ofthe cam members has been scrapped by one of the shoes during movement.Also, the portion of surface 40 between the shoes is substantiallycompletely covered by the sides 11 and 12 and top panel 13 of member 10so that no contamination can accumulate on surface 4% between the shoes.Thus, the surface 44 provides a non-contaminated gripping surface forthe cam members.

It is apparent that the present invention provides a mounting devicewhich can be secured to a mounting track at any location along the trackand then moved to any other location and firmly locked by the cammembers or other suitable locking means. The shape of the feet on thesupporting shoes can be varied to conform with the shape of the trackchannel, so that if the channel is wedge shaped, the feet on the shoeswill be wedge shaped. Also, the ends of the shoes can have any desiredangle with the surface 40 which provides a corner adjacent the channelsurface for clearing the surface. While the shoes are illustrated asdivided in half, it is not necessary that each shoe part be one half thetotal shoe so long as the feet on both parts can pass through the slotinto the channel and fill up the slot suificiently when placed side byside, to prevent removal of the parts. The cam members can be moved by avariety of mechanisms, such as by a remotely controlled ram. Variousother modifications are contemplated by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafterdefined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A track supported mounting device comprising:

an elongated supporting member extending along a support track, saidtrack containing a channel defined by a bottom support surface and byupper flanges between which extends a slot communicating with saidchannel;

a pair of support shoes secured to said elongated mornber at spacedlocations and having a lower surface supported by said bottom surface;

each of said shoes having a foot extending outwardly from each edge ofsaid lower surface and each shoe being divided into two parts with onefoot on each P each foot being separately insertable through said slotat spaced locations into said channel and underneath one of said flangesso that each shoe is slidably secured in said channel when said partsare moved opposite one another and secured to said support member;

and locking means for selectively engaging said bottom surface of saidchannel to hold said member in a selected position along said track;

said locking means comprising a pair of cam members pivotally mounted onsaid member and spaced apart along said channel;

the cam surface of one cam member being moved into engagement with saidbottom channel surface by clockwise rotation and the cam surface of theother member being moved into engagement with said bottom channelsurface by counterclockwise rotation; and

means for normally holding said cam surfaces in engagement with channelsurface.

2. A track supported mounting device as defined in claim 1 wherein eachshoe has an outside corner which moves over and cleans said bottomsurface prior to locking engagement with one of said cam surfaces.

3. A track supported mounting device as defined in claim 2 wherein saidelongated member substantially covers said bottom surface between saidspaced location to protect said bottom surface against contamination.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 146,599 1/74Kunkle 238141 1,759,213 5/30 Webb 104-111 2,441,533 5/48 Montgomery291.5 2,899,167 8/59 Elsner 248429 2,944,467 7/60 Casan-ov 29-153,115,696 12/63 Evans 308-3 FOREIGN PATENTS 576,627 5 33 Germany.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

1. A TRACK SUPPORTED MOUNTED DEVICE COMPRISING: AN ELONGATED SUPPORTINGMEMBER EXTENDING ALONG A SUPPORT TRACKS, SAID TRACK CONTAINING A CHANNELDEFINED BY A BUTTON SUPPORT SURFACE AND BY UPPER FLANGES BETWEEN WHICHEXTENDS A SLOT COMMUNICATING WITH SAID CHANNEL; A PAIR OF SUPPORT SHOESSECURED TO SAID ELONGATED MEMBER AT SPACED LOCATIONS AND HAVING A LOWERSURFACE SUPPORTED BY SAID BOTTOM SURFACE; EACH OF SAID SHOE HAVING AFOOT EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM EACH EDGE OF SAID LOWER SURFACE AND EACHSHOE BEING DIVIDED INTO TWO PARTS WITH ONE FOOT ON EACH PART; EACH FOOTBEING SEPARATELY INSERTABLE THROUGH SAID SLOT AT SPACED LOCATIONS INTOSAID CHANNEL AND UNDERNEATH ONE OF SAID FLANGES SO THAT EACH SHOE ISSLIDABLY SECURED IN SAID CHANNEL WHEN SAID PARTS ARE MOVED OPPOSITE ONEANOTHER AND SECURED TO SAID SUPPORT MEMBER; AND LOCKING MEANS FORSELECTIVELY ENGAGING SAID BOTTOM SURFACE OF SAID CHANNEL TO HOLD SAIDMEMBER IN A SELECTED POSITION ALONG SAID TRACK; SAID LOCKING MEANSCOMPRISING A PAIR OF CAM MEMBERS PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID MEMBER ANDSPACED APART ALONG SAID CHANNEL; THE CAM SURFACE OF ONE CAM MEMBER BEINGMOVED INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID BOTTOM CHANNEL SURFACE BY CLOCKWISEROTATION AND THE CAM SURFACAE OF THE OTHER MEMBER BEING MOVED INTOENGAGEMENT WITH SAID BOTTOM CHANNEL SURFACE BY COUNTERCLOCKWISEROTATION; AND MEANS FOR NORMALLY HOLDING SAID CAM SURFACES IN ENGAGEMENTWITH CHANNEL SURFACE.